Family tree plaque

My daughter bought this MDF tree back in the Spring from Craftwood Creations, on the proviso that I painted it for her .... I have at last got around to doing it.  It is not entirely finished, as I didn't know what sort of background she wanted, so the canvas is just gessoed for the time being.   Also I didn't know what she wanted on the hearts, or where she wanted them placed, so for the moment nothing is stuck down.   Once she has decided I can finish it ....... or she can finish it herself.

I painted the bark with various shades of brown, and then having been playing with some stamperia creme paste and a tree bark impression mat, I used the "skin/mould" I created with the paste (picture below) as a stamp, and added some bark effect with light brown and darker brown paint.  I am pleased with the result.   The leaves were painted with various shades of green and a smidgen of brown.

I used various colours of paint on the owls until I was happy with them, smudging a lot of the colour on with my finger.  I then did a bit of highlighting with a couple of paint pens again smudging with my finger..   The flowers were painted with a couple of shades of aqua and some yellow added for the centre.  I then applied some Nuvo drops to the centres

The hearts were painted with the darker of the two aqua colours, and then I distressed the edges with a sponge and some grey nuvo inkpad.   I also distressed the edges of parts of the tree and leaves with a sponge and a black ink pad.

Below is the strip I made from the texture mat with the creme paste.  I managed to tear it as I removed it from the mat, but for the purpose that I wanted it for it was fine, and it was a first time experiment using the paste.   You can see how  I used it with paint as a stamp.